Tyler Merbler from USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Earlier today the vast majority of U.S. House Republicans voted against the creation of an independent commission to investigate the violent insurrection against the Capitol on January 6th that threatened their own lives and the survival of America’s democratic system. That this is no longer shocking shows just how fragile the republic now is.
But thirty-five Republicans did vote in support of the commission, breaking with Donald Trump, their House leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate leader, Mitch McConnell. It won’t surprise regular readers of this space that nearly half of them are from the communitarian-minded regions of the country as per American Nations, and that they include their entire (meager) delegations from the Left Coast, New Netherland, and the Spanish Caribbean. Only two are from the Deep South, of a total of something like 80 Republican members from there.
Here’s how they break down:
Seven (or 20% of the total) are from Yankeedom: Anthony Gonzalez (OH16 – which also includes Midlands); Chris Jacobs (NY27); David Joyce (OH14); John Katko (NY24); Peter Meijer (MI03); Fred Upton (MI06); Tom Reed (NY23). Together they represent nearly a third of the GOP caucus from that region.
Six (17%) are from the Midlands: Don Bacon (NE02); Jeff Fortenberry (NE01); Rodney Davis (IL13); Brian Fitzpatrick (PA01); Adam Kinzinger (IL16, includes some Yankeedom); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA02);
Eight (23%) are from the Far West: Cliff Bentz (OR2); Liz Cheney (WY); John Curtis (UT03); Dusty Johnson (SD at large, which includes Midlands and Yankee sections); Dan Newhouse (WA04); Blake Moore (UT01); Mike Simpson (ID02); David Valadao (CA21). (At least three are Mormons, who are vastly overrepresented among Never Trumpers.)
Six (17%) are from Greater Appalachia: Stephanie Bice (OK5); French Hill (AR02); Trey Hollingsworth (IN09); David McKinley (WV); Van Taylor (TX03); Steve Womack (AR03)
Two (>6%) are from Deep South: Michael Guest (MS03); Tom Rice (SC07)
One is from El Norte: Tony Gonzalez (TX23)
One is the sole GOP member from the Left Coast: Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA03)
Two are the only GOP representatives from New Netherland: Andrew Garbarino (NY2); Chris Smith (NJ04, which includes Midlands sections)
The entire GOP delegation in the Spanish Caribbean: Carlos Gimenez (FL26); Maria Salazar (FL27)
(In districts split between “nations,” I located the member’s official town of residence to determine how to allocate them.)
It will be interesting to see how this plays out among the Senate Republican caucus.
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He is the author of six books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. He is a contributing editor at POLITICO and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.